Baer D M, Peterson R F, Sherman J A
J Exp Anal Behav. 1967 Sep;10(5):405-16. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1967.10-405.
This research demonstrated some of the conditions under which retarded children can be taught to imitate the actions of adults. Before the experiment, the subjects were without spontaneous imitative behavior, either vocal or motor. Each subject was taught, with food as reinforcement, a series of responses identical to responses demonstrated by an experimenter; i.e., each response was reinforced only if it was identical to a prior demonstration by an experimenter. Initially, intensive shaping was required to establish matching responses by the subjects. In the course of acquiring a variety of such responses, the subjects' probability of immediate imitation of each new demonstration, before direct training, greatly increased. Later in the study, certain new imitations, even though perfect, were never reinforced; yet as long as some imitative responses were reinforced, all remained at high strength. This imitativeness was then used to establish initial verbal repertoires in two subjects.
这项研究表明了在某些条件下，可以教会智障儿童模仿成年人的行为。在实验之前，受试者没有自发的模仿行为，无论是发声还是动作方面。每个受试者都以食物作为强化物，被教导做出一系列与实验者所展示的反应相同的反应；也就是说，只有当每个反应与实验者之前的示范完全相同时，才会得到强化。最初，需要进行密集的塑造，以使受试者建立匹配的反应。在获得各种此类反应的过程中，受试者在未经直接训练的情况下立即模仿每个新示范的可能性大大增加。在研究后期，某些新的模仿行为，即使是完美的，也从未得到强化；然而，只要一些模仿反应得到强化，所有反应的强度都保持在很高的水平。然后，这种模仿能力被用于在两名受试者中建立初步的语言技能。
